Setting Things Straight
by Sango-sama
Summary: SangoMiroku One shot. Yes, I actually managed to do a one shot! The title is a pun...I apologize profusely! Please read me! You know you want to!


Setting Things Straight  
  
Sango-sama  
  
Weee! Happy pointless-ness! And boy did I need it.  
  
Much apologies for the pun with the title…but I really couldn't resist. ^_^  
  
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Her hands had looked deceptively delicate. His eyes followed with great interest as the slender fingers gingerly trailed along the length of his lower arm.  
  
He hissed deeply, drawing a rush of cool air back over the tips of his teeth as her fingertips brushed over a patch of tender flesh. It had just begun to bruise, the light shadow of a sallow yellow quickly undermined by a deep, unnatural purple.  
  
In any other situation, he would be greatly enjoying such a gentle gesture from the Taiji-ya. But right now, his arm hurt like Hell.  
  
"I'm sorry, Houshi-sama," she whispered soothingly, a light, sympathetic smile pursing her lips.  
  
Silently cursed at himself. iHei never got himself into situations like this…  
  
"This will hurt a bit. But I need to see if it's--"  
  
A wave of pins and needles shot a sharp, throbbing pain up his arm, a grimace contorting his normally serene features. He jerked the wounded limb out of her light grasp. 'Kuso!' his mind screamed.  
  
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'Damn…it really is broken.' She frowned at the odd angle at which his hand was dangling from the rest of his arm.  
  
She had accompanied Kaede a number of times, as the older woman traversed the neighboring villages, healing the ill and injured.  
  
"Houshi-sama…I'm going to have to reset the bone."  
  
She had seen bones broken and twisted, and she knew how painful it could be. But although she had watched bones being set back in place, she never had to do it herself before.  
  
It was difficult enough to stifle her nervousness about the whole situation without having to look at the very stricken look that had fallen over the Houshi's face. She turned her head away from him, training her eyes instead on the blue cloth bag that she was untying from around her shoulders. It would be just long enough to wind around his arm with a little piece to tie it over his shoulder.  
  
She stood up, scanning the ground to find a branch flat enough to his arm steady. "This is really your fault, you know," she chided. "If you could just learn to kept those hands to yourself, we wouldn't be in this mess now."  
  
She dared to look at him, regretting the second after she did. He had a pitiful look on his face, his eyes and jaw clenched tightly as he lay his head back against a tree trunk.  
  
Her head whipped back around, not taking a chance that his eyes would remain closed; heat was rushing to her face again. "It's just, you scared me…and then when Kirara bucked…" It was bad enough that she was already nervous about setting the bone properly, she definitely didn't need to let herself get embarrassed as well. Her rambling on was bad enough. "I…I'm just glad we hadn't been any higher up…"  
  
She was supposed to be mad at him. She had every right to be angry with him. But now it was impossible for her to look at him without feeling guilty.  
  
Eyebrows furrowing, she bit at her lower lip. 'This isn't the time to be thinking about that.'  
  
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Miroku, for his part, was doing a fair job trying to block the pain from his mind through meditation. A few beads of sweat that had gathered upon his forehead drew together before clamboring down the side of his cheek. He silently thanked Mushin-sama's ardor for meditation, even though it never neared the man's ardor for sake. In fact, he was so focused that he had barely noticed when Sango had eased his broken arm so it was level to with her eyes, flat against the stick.  
  
His beaded hand gripped around the heavy wooden handle of his shajaku, his fingernails digging in at its surface.  
  
A quiet, unnatural grind of bone on bone signaled that Sango had finished her task. She started to weave a bandage around one end of the stick, binding it to his broken lower arm.  
  
"Could you hold the stick right there?" She pointed to the end opposite where she was working.  
  
He nodded mutely, holding the stick in place against his arm.  
  
They sat in silence until the work was completed. Miroku watched her work, her finger nimbly twisting the fabric into place, from time to time allowing his eyes to reach her face and watch the way her lips pursed in concentration and the way that the stray ebony strands fell around her face. Sango found herself just trying to ignore the weight of his eyes, until she finished tying the last bit of blue fabric atop his shoulder.  
  
"There," she murmured, giving his shoulder a quick, heedless pat.  
  
But apparently it was not quick enough, because the Houshi caught her fingers in his free hand.  
  
She didn't bother to mask her surprise, her eyes only widening further when he whispered a carefully low, "I'm sorry that you had to do this, Sango." Her voice had abandoned her entirely, leaving her to stare at him rather blankly, the deep blush renewing its force across her cheek bones. "Thank you…"  
  
She turned away from his gaze, moving to stand up, and pulling him by the hand up with her. He still had yet to let go of her hand. Not that she was complaining…much. Yes, this was the same lecherous Houshi who caused her such trouble earlier…but his hand was so awfully warm after all and it seemed able to wrap around hers completely.  
  
And with one arm bound in the makeshift sling and the other hand in hers, there was little chance of him being able to grope her for quite a while.  
  
'I think I may just have to keep your hands occupied from now on, Houshi- sama…' A slim smile pulled at her lips.  
  
Miroku wasn't sure that he liked that smile.  
  
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Beta reading thanks to Chira.  
  
I will be holding a fan art challenge for Sango/Miroku fluffiness. I don't know yet how long I will really have it run, but it will likely be until at least mid April.  
  
Requirements:  
  
Must include Sango and Miroku!  
  
Other characters (like Kirara) can be present.  
  
Entries need to be sent (.jpg is preferred) to KSSladen@aol.com.  
  
(Entries need to include email address and a name or nickname for the work to be posted under.)  
  
I hope to have different categories divisions (ie. comedy and romance) and a prize will be awarded (likely a plushie or a doujinshi, character(s) as per determined by the winner.) You may enter as many times as you wish. However, dividing it up requires a substantial  
  
number of entries.  
  
Entries will be posted at http://www.catwho.net/sango/  
  
I will include artwork already on the site for this first contest. I hope to make this an ongoing thing...though probably with a fanfic challenge for next time. ^_^ 


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